Return to the Burrow
by MellaBrooke
Summary: Charlie returns home for Percy's wedding to find an extra guest present. Oneshot.


As Charlie apparated with a loud pop to the hill just north of the Burrow, he felt the strong urge to return to Romania. He knew that, though he had promised his mother only weeks ago he would be present at Percy's wedding, he would rather be anywhere but. With a loud, resounding sigh, Charlie turned toward the Burrow and began the descent downwards to his old family home. Upon entering the backyard area, he found his younger brothers, Fred, George, and Ron playing a two-on-two Quidditch match with their friend, Harry Potter.

As he got closer, his brothers and Harry quickly found their way to the ground, dismounted their brooms and came over to him.

"Oi! Charlie!," said Fred, placing an arm around his shoulder. "Simply poffing to see you."

He gave a low chuckle. "Good to be seen." His brother George, who was identical to Fred in every way except for a scar on the left cheek of Fred's bottom that he had gotten some years previous, came over too.

"Simply splendid that you haven't been eaten by a dragon yet," George said patting him on the back. "Though, it'd be a dynamite way to go out if I do say so myself."

Charlie chuckled once more at the twins and turned his head slightly to see his other brother, Ron, standing a few feet away with Harry. "Hey, Ron, Harry," he said, inclining his head towards the two boys.

Ron threw up a hand, "Hey, mate." Harry just inclined his head in Charlie's direction as a friendly hello.

Feeling that he had intruded upon their match long enough, Charlie cleared his throat, "I should probably go let mum know I'm here." The boys nodded and went back to their game as he began to slowly walk towards the Burrow's backdoor.

"Charlie?" came his mother's excited voice as soon as he had opened the door. With a smile, he walked over to her and gave her a light kiss on the cheek.

"'Course, mum. Couldn't leave poor Bill to his own devices with Fred and George running around."

Molly smiled brightly back at him. "I'm so glad you're home, dear."

He walked slowly over to the table and took a seat. "It's good to be home. Nobody in Romania can cook half as good as you can, mum."

His mother blushed and shook her head in a modest gesture. He leaned back in the chair, stretching, and gave the room a once over. The Weasley kitchen hadn't changed once in all the years that he'd been gone.

The old, wobbling table remained the heart of the room, with the same 10 chairs dotting the sides and head. The same ancient clock hung on the wall, showing, for once, that all of the Weasleys were presently at home.

With a smile, Charlie stood and went to examine the clock. When he was younger, that clock had gotten himself and Bill into trouble on more than one occasion. He could still remember being reprimanded for dragging Bill out of bed in the wee hours of the morning, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Lambton worm dragons who flew north to Scotland on occasion during the winter. Molly had awaken early to find that his and Bill's names were listed as "traveling" on the odd clock, and had erupted in the loudest shriek Arthur Weasley had ever heard (this was before Fred and George, obviously).

Turning once more to face his mother, Charlie sighed happily. Despite the reason he was home, he was glad to be back. "Mum, where's Bill?"

Without looking up from the counter by the sink, Molly waved her hand towards the living room. "Somewhere in there, darling."

He shook his head at his mother and left the kitchen, searching for his elder brother. Upon entering the living room, he found him, settled in a chair with his nose in a book.

"Honestly, Bill, you can't even read, so why do you put up this facade?" he said with a grin, walking farther into the room to sit on the couch. His brother merely made a face at him and folded a corner of the page to keep his place, before closing the book.

"I'd bite my tongue if I were you, mate. I may be older, but that doesn't mean I can't still teach you a lesson," Bill replied calmly.

He rolled his eyes, the grin still present on his face. Leaning back into the couch, he yawned. "How's Fleur?"

His brother's posture straightened slightly. "She's at home. She refused to come."

Charlie nodded, he could understand her desire not to be present at the wedding. Especially after all Percy had done to the family just a few years ago.

Looking around the room, Charlie saw that he and Bill were not alone in the room. At the site of the dark haired girl in the corner, gazing directly at him in her signature dreamy manner, he turned once again to Bill. "Oi, how long as she been here?"

His elder brother sighed and leaned forward exposing his long red hair, which was presently in a loose braid trailing down his back. "Long enough."

A deep chuckle erupted from Charlie as he turned his attention back to the girl, who was still staring at him. "Hello, Moira."

The girl's smile stretched farther across her face. "Charlie."

He couldn't help but smile back at her. It had been years since he'd last saw her at Hogwarts. A fact that upset him greatly. They had been the best of friends back then. "How've you been?"

Moira continued to smile in a dazed way, turning her attention to the empty fireplace before responding. "Fine, Charlie. I've been fine."

He gave a low laugh, "Good."

She turned her head quickly back to look at him. "Charlie, may I ask you a question?"

"You already did, but yes, you may ask me another," he responded with a smirk.

Ignoring his smart remark, she gracefully got up and glided over to the couch, sitting directly beside him. "Why have you not let your hair grow, Charlie?" she asked, placing one of her pale hands in his hair. "I've so longed to be able to braid your hair."

Caught off guard, Charlie gave another laugh. "If I grew it out, it'd just give the dragons something else to catch on fire."

"Oh," she said dreamily. "I guess that's a good reason."

Smiling at her, he nodded. "I assure you. It's a very good reason."

Her fingers danced through his hair, messing it up significantly, "It's good that you're home, Charlie."

Bill, who had returned to his book some time ago, looked up at them and smiled. "You guys better seperate before mum finds you. She expects grandkids from you too, Charles."

_Yeah_, he thought with a grin, _it's good to be home_.

* * *

**Don't own the characters. If I did, Charlie would've been in the books so much more. Oh, and the seventh book would've went down extremely different.**

**xoxo.Melly**

**p.s. If you're curious about who Moira is, check out "A Broken Heart's Beat" by Chiyo Thyra. I promise, it's a good read. :)**


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